Ensuring students are prepared for college and/or the workforce after high school graduation is critical to the future of New Mexico’s competitiveness. New Mexico Graduates Now! is a multi-faceted initiative that seeks to replicate and expand proven models, as well as use data to identify students at risk for dropping out and support them to ensure they graduate from high school, college and/or become career ready. One piece of the New Mexico Graduates Now! initiative is the expansion of Advanced Placement.

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program offering college-level curriculum and examinations to high school students. There are 34 AP courses offered, ranging from Chemistry, to Calculus, to Psychology, to Spanish.

Advanced Placement tests are scored on a 1 to 5 scale as follows:

5 – Extremely well qualified

4 – Well qualified

3 – Qualified

2 – Possibly qualified

1 – No recommendation

Students that score a 3, 4, or 5 receive college credit for the corresponding class.

New Mexico, in partnership with the College Board, will be working to expand access to AP to students across New Mexico. The chart below will provide district-level information related to current access to AP for our students. It shows how many students have the potential to score a 3 or higher on an AP exam if they take a course. In many instances, students are prepared for, but are not even provided with the opportunity to take an AP course.

No. Although Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Credit courses are both advanced curricular options for high school students, AP and Dual Credit courses are mutually exclusive.

The College Board has strict guidelines on AP course offerings and annually certifies high school teachers to teach AP courses. AP courses are high school courses that may be eligible for college credit if and when the high school student takes an AP exam and obtains a score of at least three (out of five). Furthermore, each student must formally send AP scores to the college/university they are interested in; the college/university then determines if the student will receive college credit. Some institutions require scores of four or five to be accepted for credit. AP courses are offered over the length of the school year. Dual credit courses are college courses offered by a postsecondary institution. Whether the student receives college credit for the course is contingent on a passing grade. Dual credit courses are offered over the course of semesters or trimesters.